Nursery World - Early years staff abused

Teachers in the north-west of England faced almost 1,000 incidents of abuse from pupils over a two-week period in January, a survey by teachers' union the NASUWT has found.

Teachers in the north-west of England faced almost 1,000 incidents of abuse from pupils over a two-week period in January, a survey by teachers'

union the NASUWT has found.

The survey of 304 primary, secondary and special schools was conducted in four local education authorities over ten working days from 20 to 31 January. It recorded 126 physical assaults, 62 sexual insults or threats, nine cases of racist verbal abuse, and the rest verbal abuse. However, the union described as 'the most concerning statistic' 15 cases of verbal abuse in reception classes and seven involving nursery school pupils. The survey also found that most of the abuse occurred in the morning.

Eamonn O'Kane, NASUWT general secretary, said the survey provided 'a very worrying picture'. He added, 'Teachers are entitled not to be abused in the course of their work. Their employers have a duty to protect them from physical and verbal assaults.'